August 30

THE COVID-19 pandemic in the true sense has brought a boom in the number of start-ups around the world. Startups are responding to changing consumer demand and are opting for sectors like fintech, education, consumer-durable and healthcare using technology.

This trend is expected to continue even after the opening up of the economies. For instance, according to a report by consulting firm RedSeer, India’s consumer digital economy is expected to grow ten times from the current level in the next 10 years with a 25 per cent CAGR. From an USD 85-90 billion market in the year 2020, it is expected to touch USD 800 billion by the year 2030.

Start-ups have helped create more jobs

Being the centre of innovations, start-ups have helped create more jobs, thus helping the economy revive. The US tops list of countries which has a favourable start-up ecosystem space. It garners almost 65 per cent share of the billion-dollar unicorns, followed by China which has around 13.8 per cent share. India ranks third with 4.1 per cent in the share in billion-dollar unicorns, according to the study conducted by the USC Marshal School of business in its ‘Startup Index of Nations & Regions’.

Silicon Valley from the West Coast of US leads in the region with 39.2 per cent share in unicorns. Several Indian regions have a place in the ranking. New Delhi for instance is in the 13th position, Mumbai is in the 16th position and Bengaluru is in the 20th position with 1.7 per cent, 1.4 per cent and 1.1 per cent share respectively.

Start-up incubators and skilled workforce

Factors like government policy intervention, venture capitalists, start-up incubators and skilled workforce are instrumental in the growth of startups in any country. In the US, to help smaller businesses survive, the administration has set up efficient laws, regulations, and policies to safeguard business interests, ownership of ideas, or trade secrets.

The Indian government, since the last several years too, have tried to create a favourable start-up ecosystem with initiatives like Make in India, Vocal for Local, and Start-up India programme. It has provided tax holidays and capital gains exemption for investment in start-ups to incentivise entrepreneurship in the country.

According to the Economic Survey, India at present has the world’s third largest start-up ecosystem with 83 unicorns with a total valuation of USD 277.77 billion till January 2022. Most of these unicorns are in the service sector contributing approximately 50 per cent to India’s GDP. The total number of recognized start-ups in the country surpassed 61,400.

Chinese Taipei striving to be a global supplier of hardware

Chinese Taipei has a vibrant start up ecosystem and ranks 30th as per Start-up Blink report. The country is already an international powerhouse in the hardware industry due to the efforts from both the public and private sectors over the last 50 years. The Chinese Taipei government has formulated an action plan which comprises of five strategies and 40 measures which will be jointly promoted by 13 government agencies. Source : AN